“Owen leads by example as a captain and as a player he has earned the respect of the other members of the squad,” said Lloyd Morgan, chairman of the England 16 Group selectors.

“We are very mindful of the success the Under 16s have enjoyed in being undefeated in this age group since 2003. The coaching team have picked a team capable of beating Wales while acknowledging the tournament rules which make changes likely for the next match against Italy U17 on Sunday.”

Sussex duo Sam Twomey and James Tyas link up for England in the second row, and Yorkshire flanker Chris Walker will be pack leader.

“Twomey will be our middle jumper on attack with Tyas at the front,” said England U16 lead coach Gareth Rees. “They are both competent line-out players and industrious in other areas and they have developed a lot since I started looking at them in December.”

The players will be presented with their England jerseys on Thursday morning before a 5pm kick-off, local time, at Bourgoin’s Stade Pierre Rajon, a well-known Heineken Cup venue in club rugby.

“We’ve had a look at the France team in training and they are a big side,” said Rees. “The Welsh will always be tough opponents and three full-on internationals in a week is a difficult task.

“But we believe the systems we have in place will cover it and that we have the capacity to break any team open in a variety of ways if we can win enough primary ball.”

Farrell and Ford are firm family friends and their burgeoning midfield partnership has been watched closely by Rees.

“I am excited at the prospect of seeing them in tandem in an international match,” Rees said.

“They have a very good understanding of each other’s play, they are comfortable in the team’s patterns and they show a great amount of calmness and awareness of their abilities.

“George is very composed for his age and we have seen Owen develop as a player in the last 12 months. This year he has the ability to carry the ball up and break lines which was something we didn’t ask him to do last year.”

England Under 16 team v Wales, Four Nations Tournament, Bourgoin, Thursday March 20, 5pm local time:

15 Joe Cobden (King Edward VI Lichfield & Staffordshire)

14 Alex Lewington (Nottingham High School & Notts, Lincs and Derbyshire)

13 Sam Stuart (Sedbergh School & Yorkshire)

12 Owen Farrell (St George’s School Harpenden & Hertfordshire, capt)

11 Sam Edgerley (Wellington College & Surrey)

10 George Ford (Rishworth School & Yorkshire)

9 Ryan Glynn (Sedbergh School & Lancashire)

1 Malcolm Hearn (Helston Community College & Cornwall)

2 Michael Haywood (Tendring Tech College & Eastern Counties)

3 Harry Allen (Hurstmere School & Kent)

4 James Tyas (Brighton College & Sussex)

5 Sam Twomey (St Wilfrid’s RC School & Sussex)

6 Jamie Bache (St Peter’s High School & Essex)

7 Chris Walker (Settle College & Yorkshire)

8 Sam Jones (Aylesbury Grammar School & Buckinghamshire)

Backs replacements:

James Whybrow (King Edward VI Five Ways School & North Midlands)

Jamie Elliott (Bedford School & East Midlands)

Tom Heathcote (Bishop Wordsworth’s School & Dorset and Wiltshire)

Sam Stanley (William Edwards School & Essex)

Andy Davies (Lymm High School & Cheshire)

Forwards replacements:

George Bee (Bishop of Hereford Bluecoat School & North Midlands) (front row)

Kit McCartney (Wanstead School & Essex) (front row)

Henry Thomas (Millfield School & Somerset) (front row)

Ben Vernon (Hutton Grammar School & Lancashire)

Matthew Kvesic (Blundell’s School & Devon)

Joe Atkinson (Churcher’s College & Hampshire)

Note: up to seven of the 11 replacements may be used.

Four Nations Tournament 2008 fixtures:

Thursday March 20:

England U16 v Wales U16 (Stade Pierre Rajon, Bourgoin, 5pm)

France U17 v Italy U17 (Stade Pierre Rajon, Bourgoin, 6.30pm)

Sunday March 23:

England U16 v Italy U17 (Stade Jean Etcheberry, Vienne, 3pm)

France U17 v Wales U16 (Stade Jean Etcheberry, Vienne, 4.30pm)

Wednesday March 26:

Wales U16 v Italy U17 (Stade Vuillermet, Lyon, 5pm)

France U17 v England U16 (Stade Vuillermet, Lyon, 6.30pm)

Ends